Sibling Rivalry
by DoubleKK
Summary: Claire's sister turns up uninvited in Mineral Town, only to cause problems. Re-make of Life Is Unfair Get Used To It. Graireness, hooray!
1. The Letter

Sibling Rivalry

**Sibling Rivalry**

DoubleKK

**A/N: I doubt that anyone remembers my original ClairexGray story, cause I don't think anyone who was on then is around anymore. This is my attempt at remake of it. Review please!**

My life is over.

I used to say this all the time when I was a teenager, which wasn't really that long ago. For small stuff, like not being able to go to the mall with my friends, or being grounded from borrowing the car for a week. But this isn't some stupid teenage problem. This could potentially end my life as I know it, or damage it beyond repair.

Well, maybe I'm exaggerating a tiny bit.

It began a few days ago. I came outside, thinking it was going to be a perfectly normal summer day. I did my morning chores happily, whistling some random tune as I worked. I didn't notice an envelope sticking out of my mailbox until about an hour after I had gotten up. When I did, I took it out, and read the return address. Then I screamed. Loudly.

Okay, maybe I overreacted a little. I mean, I hadn't even read the letter yet. Most normal, mature adults would have perfectly happy to get a letter from their sister. You know, you hate each others guts when you're kids, but then get over it when you're not forced to live together anymore. Some are even _friends_ with their siblings. So my reaction was definitely not normal. I was horrified. Even despite my displeasure, you couldn't exactly call my sister and me, 'normal'.

It was even less typical for me to hate my own sister, because of the fact that we were twins. Identical, except that she had dyed her blonde locks auburn and when to get it professionally curled every week. Are you starting to see my point here? There wasn't any 'twin telepathy' between us, mostly because of the fact that she was a shallow little bitch.

Amanda. That was the name of the brat I had to live with for eighteen years and call family. And we shared _everything._ Anything I owned, she had a right to it. And that wasn't the only reason I despise my twin. There are too many to count, one of the biggest involving my cousin Jack and a guy named Alex. But I'm not about to re-tell that nightmare.

Anyway. So when I got the letter, I screamed loud enough for the whole town to hear. And I wasn't surprised when Cliff, who had been walking down the street innocently, came running through the gate of my farm. "What's wrong?!" he asked frantically, searching me for any bullet holes or other possible injuries.

Ha. That's a good one. Like anyone would ever get shot in Mineral Town.

"I got a letter from my sister!" I yelled at him in despair. He seemed surprised, as he didn't know of my hatred toward my own flesh and blood.

"So?" he asked, rather confused. "What did it say? Did someone, like, die or something?"

I realized as I looked at him that I hadn't even opened the letter yet. "Oh." I said stupidly. "Actually, I haven't read it yet."

Cliff just looked at me like I would be better placed in an asylum. I tore open the seal, mentally preparing myself for what horrors may lay inside.

_Claire,_

_You have no idea what it took for me to get your address. Your town isn't anywhere on the internet and no normal people have any idea that it exists, either. Whatever. If this doesn't reach you, it's not my fault. Anyway, how are things? I heard that your whole village has less people than our grad class…_

_This isn't so bad_, I thought. All she seemed to be doing was making conversation. But knowing Amanda, there was some dark, ulterior motive to it. I kept reading, and when I got past all the fake-politeness crap, I found the worst part and the point of the letter.

…_So I was thinking. I decided that it would nice to get away for a bit, take a break from the city. So what better place to go than a dead little town like yours? I decided I will be coming to visit you for a while. I will be coming on July 12__th__, so see you soon! _

_Your sister, _

_Amanda_

The scream I let out next could have shattered every window in town, plus awaken the dead.

--

No one in town seemed to sympathize with me much. After a string a swear words from Cliff after I screamed ion his ear, all he said was, "You overreact to everything. How could she be _that_ bad?" Given, I had nearly just burst his eardrum, so he wasn't too pleased with me anyway.

My friends were a bit better. I told Ann about my miserable childhood with the sister form Hell over the counter at the Inn. But after I finished, she seemed unimpressed.

"Really? That kind of sucks." she said while cleaning a wine glass, though she didn't sound like she had been listening. "But try living with my dad. When I was eleven, that's right, eleven years old, he tried to set me up on a date! With Rick!" she cried, as if her family problems were far greater than mine, "I was eleven!" Shows how big a help Ann was.

When I told Karen, however, I got more input than I would have liked. Karen was alright, not trying to outdo me with her own crazy relative stories. She did have a few disturbing revenge ideas though, which I decided to remember for future use. The problem was, we were in Kai's Restaurant, only because Karen loved the beach so much. So I got more opinions than one.

"Really? Your sister was mean to you?" Popuri had said, all wide-eyed from her table with Kai. "Well, why can't you get along, now that you're older? I would love to meet her!" Then she got all excited at the prospect of making a new friend. Karen rolled her eyes at the girls annoying innocence. It wasn't so bad, as Popuri was just being her usual over-happy self.

Kai was the worst. After hearing that Amanda was my twin and also an unbearably annoying flirt, he looked_ interested._ Which I found quite disturbing. "Whoa, awesome." he had said. "She sounds hot, especially if she looks like you. Is she available?"

Popuri looked horrified, and Karen shot a death glare at Kai. "You are such a pig. Is that all you ever think about?" Karen had never fallen for Kai's charm, persuasive as he was. But that didn't mean he had given up, which only made her more disgusted.

"If you hit on her, I swear I will kick your ass, Kai." I threatened, trying to sound like I meant it. His eyebrows went up, and he smirked devilishly. "Oooh, is your sis as feisty as you are, Claire? It might me worth it if you come after me…"

This statement was followed by a scene in which I tried to cause him a great amount of pain and call him not-so-nice names, but I won't go into detail.

The easiest person I had talked had to be Gray. He just sat there patiently, looking right at me as if he was listening as I told him about Amanda. As I finished a story about my twin throwing a party without our parent's permission _and_ blaming it on me, he nodded like he understood. "Well, she does sound like a brat." He said. I loved him very much at that moment.

Gray and I were what the gossip girls at the square would call an 'item' I hated that term, because it sounded weird, like being one person instead of two. But he was the sweetest, not to mention hottest, guy I had ever met. And he was mine.

"I know." I sighed. "I won't even introduce her to you if you want. You don't have to go through all her crap. She'd probably hit on you or something, just to spite me." I added sourly.

Gray looked surprised. "What? No way I would want you to have to endure this Amanda by yourself." He said it as if I insane for even suggesting it. I had people talk to me in that tone a lot lately.

A rush of affection filled my heart for Gray. I smiled and hugged him tight, burying my face in his neck. Hopefully, I could hold on to the feeling of being with him in the days when Amanda plagued my life…

**A/N: Kay, it did feel a bit weird writing the cheesy thing with Gary and Claire at the end, but I just love that couple. I don't know if this is worth continuing, so I'd like some feedback. **


	2. The Arrival

Sibling Rivalry

**Sibling Rivalry**

DoubleKK

**A/N: I just re-read my old version of this story, and I think I'm going to crawl into a hole and die now. I seriously hope that people find this better than the original! **

The rest of the week passed by too quickly. It felt like each day was blurring into the next. I dreaded July 12th, which only seemed to make it come faster. It eventually arrived, and the horrors loomed ahead dauntingly.

Gray wanted to meet her by the dock, to which I responded with a question of whether he was on drugs. He insisted that it was the polite thing to do, incase she got lost. He wasn't impressed when I told him that was a great idea.

"Come on, Claire. Can't you even _attempt_ to be nice?" he asked exasperatedly. "Just forget your stupid teenage grudges. It'd make dealing with you two a lot easier."

Ah, Gray. So adorably clueless, and yet drives me insane.

I eventually gave in to his pleading blue eyes (who wouldn't?), but only agreed to show Amanda to the Inn, and leave her to navigate the town by herself. I knew this would probably come back to bite me in the ass later, but didn't want to be with my twin any longer than necessary.

So Gray and I stood near the small deck on Mineral Town's little beach, waiting for the ferry to arrive. Gray promised that Kai would not make an appearance, as he was on a date with Popuri by the Hot Springs. This provided little comfort to me, only more dislike toward Kai. He talked about hitting on my sister in front of Popuri, and yet is still going out with her. I was far from relaxed, though Gray being there helped a little bit.

The ferry arrived exactly on time. I cursed the captain's lack of other things to do. As it pulled up to the dock, I visibly tensed. Gray put his arm around my waist reassuringly. As the deck hand secured the boat to the dock, out stepped my twin nightmare.

To others, I suppose we were identical, with the exception of her wavy brown hair. Amanda had perfectly manicured nails, which she claimed to do herself (Ha. Yeah right.), and a designer outfit on that made me feel terribly underdressed in my overalls. When she saw us, she rushed over in apparent excitement.

"Claire!" she exclaimed, as she dropped her two red suitcases and rushed over to us. I was shocked when she threw her arms around me like I was a long lost friend. _Well, _I thought bitterly. _I guess she never really hated me, just had a little to much fun tormenting me. _

She pulled back and flashed her dazzling natural white teeth. "It's been, like, forever! I was shocked when you decided to quit your job and move here. I thought you had it great before! Well, I needed a break from my job, its just so tiring." she sighed, like it was such a burden. "Me and Jordan just moved into a new apartment, and-"

I cut her off. "Wait, who's Jordan? What happened to Kevin?" I immediately regretted asking. She launched into a full explanation of her breakup with Kevin, meeting Jordan, and a few other guys in between.

I was about ready to see how hard I had to hit her to get her to stop the pointless boy talk (after a few spoken attempts) when she acknowledged Gray, who had been standing there patiently the entire time. I admired his tolerance for stupid, one-sided conversations.

"Who's this?" Amanda asked suddenly, as she seemed to notice him for the first time. "How come you let him stand there, and not introduce us, Claire?"

"Why, have you forgotten how to ask, 'what's you're name?'" I muttered.

She ignored me, and turned to Gray, flashing her bright smile once again. "Hi, I'm Amanda, Claire's twin sister," she said warmly. "Hello." Gray responded politely. He seemed surprisingly kind toward her, despite her ignoring him for the past five minutes. "I'm Gray."

"That's an interesting name. Is it like, short for something?" Before he could reply, she let out a small squeal. "Wait! Are you two, like…?" She pointed back and forth between us, eyebrows raised.

Gray just pulled down the brim of his hat with a small smile, so I nodded. "Yeah. Why?"

She looked surprised. "Really?" she said, a little too doubtfully for my liking. I felt my cheeks grow pink. "Why do you sound like you can't believe it?" I asked, trying to control my aggravation. Gray looked a little lost for what to do.

"No, I just thought you might not be over Alex yet." Amanda said normally, no trace of an apology in her tone. "I mean you guys were tight for so long, and then…I don't know."

As my sister carelessly threw out these sentences, I could feel my anger increasing. How dare she mention that, and so casually in front of Gray? He could tell I was furious now, so he grabbed my arm. It was a good thing he too, as I was just getting ready to punch her perfect little teeth out. "Let's show Amanda to the Inn, okay Claire?" he said gently.

Amanda, who had been completely oblivious to my rage, said confusedly, "The Inn? I thought I was staying with you."

This time, both Gray and I looked at her like she had lost her mind. After a moment of stunned silence, he was the first one to break the tension. "Are you…serious? I thought you two…?" he looked to me for help, desperately trying to understand.

"What?" Amanda said loudly, looking back and forth. "Claire, what have you been telling people? Not about what happened with Alex, right? Oh my God!" she exclaimed, without waiting for an answer. "You've been talking behind my back!"

Typical.

I rolled my eyes. "Amanda, we have been out of high school for a while now. I can hardly call telling my friends about my sister, 'talking behind your back'. Though there haven't been many good things to tell." She continued to look clueless, so I sighed, and said, "You know what? I don't even know why you're here. And don't give me the 'I've got time off work' crap. What's the _real_ reason?" I demanded.

Gray looked around desperately for some unknown force to come save him, while Amanda actually started to look angry. "Are you seriously still sore about high school, Claire? Because I thought that we were past that."

I stared at her. "Past that? What gave you the idea that we were past that? We haven't spoken in over a year!" I exclaimed. "Not after what you did to me!"

"Why don't you just grow up, Claire?"

Now I was _really_ mad. "And why don't you just go back to your precious Kevin, or Jordan, or whoever your latest toy is!" And before I could stop myself, I had yelled, "You have always been such a sl-"

It was at this perfect time that Kai and Popuri returned from their date, just as I was screaming a rather nasty name at my sister. Both looked surprised and confused, but to my horror, Kai's look changed when he saw who we were standing with.

"Aw, Hell."

**A/N: That was shorter than I expected. I don't know how some authors write so much in one chapter or paragraph, cause I like to spread mine out. But if anyone has any suggestions on how to make it longer, please tell me in a review!**


	3. The Meeting

Sibling Rivalry

**Sibling Rivalry**

DoubleKK

**A/N: This chapter turned out a little differently than I intended. Read!**

I was surprised to hear a masculine voice uttering a similar curse to mine at the same time. I looked at Gray, but he still seemed to be praying to the heavens to send someone down to rescue him. Then my eyes found Kai, who was keeping his own fixedly on the ground, avoiding anyone's gaze. I opened my mouth to speak…

But was interrupted by my sister screaming, "WHAT did you just call me?!"

Oh. Right. I had forgotten she was there. I was rather distracted by Kai's unusual displeasure at the sight of my sister, so I wasn't really paying attention. "Hmm? Sorry…..? What was that?"

There it was again. The crazy person look.

"What the Hell is wrong with you?" Amanda asked, more confused that angry now. "Are you on drugs?"

I ignored her. "Kai, Popuri, this is my sister, _Amanda._" I said, staring at Kai determinedly. He still didn't look up. "Remember? I told you she was coming the other day."

"Hello!" Popuri said excitedly. "It's so nice to meet you! Do you like chickens?"

"Hi, I'm Amanda" she said, immediately recovering from her out burst at me. Either she didn't hear the chicken comment, or just chose to classify the pink haired girl not right in the head. Instead, she focused on the man beside her. "Kai, right?"

"Mmm." Kai replied incoherently, still not looking up.

"Well, its nice to meet you both." I was gald that Amanda had been distracted by the new comers to forget about going ballistic on me. "Umm, Claire? What were we saying about where I was going to stay before?"

I was once again too distracted by Kai's strange behavior to answer. He had moved his eyes from the ground to Amanda confusedly. "Umm…Have we met?" he asked cautiously. Had his original look been of… recognition?

"Hmm? I don't think so." Amanda said, studying him closely. "Nope. If we have, I don't remember. And I think I would remember someone like you." She added with a sly wink.

Kai just looked even more confused at her flirty gesture. "Are you sure? Because I think that you and I once…."

I did _not_ want to hear the rest of that sentence. I had a horrible feeling of what he was going to say next, so I grabbed both Gray and my twin by the arms. "Come on Amanda. I changed my mind. You can stay with me, if you want."

"Really?" Amanda looked pleased, but annoyed that I had taken her away from a chance of talking to a hot guy. Gray just looked confused. "I'm so glad that you are over our misunderstandings back then."

I chose not to respond to this. Popuri looked disappointed as I dragged away her potential new friend. "Bye! You should come over and meet my chickens one day!" she called. "I live right next door to Claire!" I have to say, Kai didn't look too happy either. I decided I would have a little chat with him later.

I let go of their arms when we were far enough away from the beach, and let Amanda walk a few paces ahead of me and Gray. "What the hell is going on?" he whispered. I shook my head.

"So, who was that hot guy with the bandanna again? Kai?" Amanda asked from ahead, trying to sound casual. "Is he taken?"

I ignored her again. "I'll explain later." I whispered back to Gray.

We got to my farm a few minutes later. Amanda looked around, clearly unimpressed. "This place is so… country…-ish." She said, her nose crinkled in what I took to be disgust. "Um, yeah. I live in the country. What did you expect?" I asked coldly.

"But where's your house?!"

"Right there." I answered irritably, pointing at my small cottage.

"That's it?" Amanda said incredulously. "But…it's so small! How do you even fit in there? My apartments bigger than _that_." She paused thoughtfully. "My rooms bigger than that!"

"Wow." I muttered. "You really are a city girl at its worst."

She just continued to look amazed at my living arrangements. "Gray?" I turned to him. He seemed to be spaced out, trying to ignore Amanda's and my bickering, and looked surprised when I acknowledged him. "Do you think that you stay here with Amanda for like, ten minutes? I really need to go talk to….someone."

"Uh, sure." He answered. "Who do you need to talk to?"

"Um, its-"

My sentence was cut short by a loud shriek. We both turned to see Amanda screaming at pointing at one of my chickens. "CLAIRE! You have disgusting animals here!?" She shrieked again as the chicken began to advance toward her. "You never told me that!" I bit back a laugh as she ran away, the chicken trailing after her.

"Well, maybe you should take her to the Inn instead."

--

After calming down my hysterical twin and assuring her that the chicken was _not _going to attack her, I walked briskly back down to the beach. I passed Poultry Farm and saw Popuri feeding her chickens and cooing to them freakishly. It seemed that her and my sister wouldn't get along well after all, as Amanda seemed to prefer her poultry on a plate._ At least she won't be with Kai, then, _I thought.

I walked through Rose Square, ignoring the gossip girls whispers of, "Oh yeah, I can't believe she called her own sister a foul name like that!" and walked onto the sand of the beach and towards the Sea Shack. _Okay, _I thought to myself, _Lets approach this calmly and rationally._

"Kai!" I yelled as I burst through the screen door forcefully. "Did you sleep with my sister?!"

_So much for calm and rational…_

Kai, instead of being frightened by my rage, seemed to perk up from where he was slouching behind the counter. "Really? Did she remember me?"

I stared at him in disbelief. "….What? Uh, no." His face fell. I momentarily forgot my anger. "You're upset because she didn't remember you?"

He nodded glumly. "I just don't understand. I mean, it was only once, but…"

After hearing those words, I remembered why I had come. "So you have a one night stand, AND STILL want to hit on her again?!"

"No!" Kai said defensively, cowering slightly at my shouting. "I didn't sleep with her, and I didn't know it was her when you first told me! But when I saw her, I knew we had gone out before…"

I made a disgusted face. "Ew. I bet you didn't even know her last name then. So are you sure it was her?"

"Positive."

"Well," I sighed, "Its probably better that she doesn't remember you. I mean, if it was only once, and you didn't call her again or anything. She might be a bit pissed." I realized after that this wouldn't be true. Amanda's probably dated hundreds of one-shot deals.

"But that's just it!" Kai burst out suddenly. I jumped slightly. "Why _wouldn't _she remember me? Was I that bad of a date? It wasn't even that long ago!"

I rolled my eyes. "You can contemplate that yourself, Kai. Just don't talk to her, okay?" I left, leaving him to mutter to himself about doubts of his own attractiveness.

_Wow. It is just like my sister to date a guy then forget him completely._ I felt bad about leaving Gray to baby-sit her, so I went to the Inn quickly. I found him alone by the bar, looking troubled. I did not take this as a good sign.

"What's wrong?" I asked. He avoided my eyes. "Where's Amanda?" I demanded. He finally looked at me, guilt in his expression. "Uh…"

"What? Where is she, Gray?"

"I kind of…don't know." He replied sheepishly. "I just went to the bathroom, and when I came out…yeah."

I muttered a curse. "This is exactly what I need, to chase my sister around town." I said sarcastically. "I guess I have to go find her, then." I turned on my heel and left Gray standing there awkwardly.

I went out the way I came and wandered aimlessly at first. How I supposed to know where my sister would go in a town like this? My first guess would be shopping… I checked the Supermarket quickly, knowing it was a long shot. Karen said she hadn't seen her. I grunted in frustration once out of the store. _Where else would she go…?_

Then I had a terrible thought. The only thing Amanda liked more then shopping was…

"_Is that hot guy in the purple bandanna taken?"_

Aw, Hell no. Please no.

I ran to the beach for the third time that day. I headed for the restaurant, but didn't have to go any farther than the bench outside…

Where I was greeted by a sight I would have much rather _not _have seen.

:


End file.
